Fans of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have to feel good about how the 2023 season played out. Sure, winning the NFC South is hardly a banner-worthy accomplishment.
But demolishing the defending NFC champs in the Wild Card Round of the playoffs is nothing to sneeze at. Considering the 2022 Buccaneers were quarterbacked by Tom Brady and the 2023 Bucs…weren't, the season has to be marked a success.
Now comes the stressful part. Tampa Bay has 17 players scheduled to hit unrestricted free agency in the coming weeks. Among the 17 players are some big names, some mainstays on the Buccaneers roster. But just because a name is recognizable, or a player has served the franchise well in the past, doesn't mean a re-signing is a wise idea.
Let's now run through some players who GM Jason Licht and head coach Todd Bowles should be trying to bring back to the Buccaneers roster for 2024.
WR Mike Evans
Let's start with an easy one. Evans fits all the criteria listed above — he's a big name that's been a star since he entered the league while only playing for the Bucs. And he's showing no signs of slowing down.
Evans just completed his 10th season in the NFL. In every single one of them, he's broken the 1,000-yard receiving mark, a record to begin a career by four seasons. (Randy Moss did it in six straight seasons.)
The wide receiver out of Texas A&M posted his highest receiving total since 2018, his best yards per reception since 2019, and tied for the league lead in receiving touchdowns.
No reason to overthink this one. Evans should remain in a Tampa Bay jersey, no matter what it costs. (Within reason, of course.)
QB Baker Mayfield
Someone has to throw Evans the ball, and that quarterback might as well be Mayfield, who enjoyed a resurgent campaign with the Bucs in 2023.
The former Cleveland Browns starter finished ninth in the NFL in passing yards and seventh in touchdown passes. His QBR was just okay (18th, right behind Trevor Lawrence) but his EPA was 12th.
In light of Mayfield being the No.1 overall pick of the 2018 draft, those results can be deemed disappointing. But Mayfield setting career highs in yards, touchdowns, and completion percentage shouldn't be ignored either.
The former Oklahoma star will certainly be due a raise from his 2023 salary. But it's not outlandish to expect this level of play from Mayfield moving forward, or even some mild improvement with another season in the same offense.
With no obvious successor on the roster, and pick no. 20 in the 2024 NFL Draft, Mayfield represents a reasonable option to return and serve as the Buccaneers' starting QB.
S Antoine Winfield Jr.
This negotiation will not be an easy one, not with Winfield coming off a career-best season. But 2023 illustrated the kind of playmaker the young safety can be, and why bringing him back should be viewed as one of Licht's top priorities.
Winfield perfectly timed the best season of his impressive NFL career. He set career-highs in interceptions (three), passes defended (12), forced fumbles (a league-leading six), sacks (six), and QB hits (eight).
Elected first-team All Pro for the first time, Winfield is a do-it-all safety that Bowles can employ in a variety of ways. Slot cornerback, deep safety, run defender, blitzer. Winfield has proved he can handle all those responsibilities.
What else is there to say? The Buccaneers need to keep him around, whether that's a long-term deal or via the franchise tag.
LB Lavonte David
At the beginning of this piece, we warned about bringing back players for nostalgia's sake. Well, re-signing David would not be that for the Buccaneers, but instead locking up a still productive player.
Despite his age, David plays what Bowles referred to as “timeless football.” And that style still produced impressive numbers, including four-and-a-half sacks, 17 tackles-for-loss, and 134 total tackles in 2023.
David is much like Evans, a franchise stalwart who is still producing. And with fellow linebacker Devin White likely to leave in free agency, the Bucs won't want to put together a linebacking corps from scratch.
The longtime Buc is a team leader who can clearly still play while serving as an extra coach out on the field. David deserves to be back with Tampa Bay. The organization would be wise to keep him for at least another season.
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